Mileage set to drive vehicle sales as fuel prices soar

Petrol and diesel prices have been raised twice already this year, and with deregulation, they are unlikely to come down soon. While the transport sector will no doubt bear the brunt of this, here’s the lowdown on the country’s most and least fuel-efficient cars and bikes. Efficient cars

In line with conventional wisdom, small cars give the best fuel efficiency. The smallest of them, the Tata Nano, boasts a good 16 per cent better mileage than its nearest petrol counterpart, Maruti’s Alto.

The house of Tatas makes the most fuel efficient cars. The Nano, Indica, Indigo and Manza are segment leaders. What works for the company is that it has a head start in diesel technology, courtesy its partnership with Fiat Spa and also its own trucking roots.

Diesel cars are way more fuel efficient than petrol ones. Even though they cost a good Rs 50-60,000 more, diesel is the way to go if your vehicle usage is high. Moreover, historically, petrol prices rise more often than diesel prices.

SUVs, true to their nature, are gas guzzlers; not one SUV logs a fuel average of more than 15 kmpl. Ultra luxury cars and convertibles, unsurprisingly, are the least fuel-efficient.

Bajaj springs a surprise with its Discover DTS-si clocking the best mileage amongst bikes. After that, it is the commuter bikes from Honda and Hero Honda that score with their 80 kmpl-plus figures. Efficient cars